Hi everyone,

I wonder if anyone could shed some light on this one for me. Any suggestions would be really appreciated.

I have a GSD pup of 11.5 months. She did go through a chewing stage when she was younger and was teething. However it was quite minor damage. She had a fixation for chewing the extension cable for the telephone and the living room door. She did chew her bed but this was replaced by a vetbed which she didnt chew.

For quite a few months there were no more chewing events. Her first season came and went when she was 7 months old. She did have a phantom pregnancy, however she didnt need any medication for it. Her body just exhibited the classic symptoms of enlarged mammary glands etc and a very small amount of milk. She was a lot quieter when she had her first season and slept a lot more.

Currently she is a pup who loves to play and she is lively and full of energy. She is walked twice a day, morning and evenings (approx 30 minutes each time) and is offlead for most of the time in the mornings where she is able to have a good run around. The evenings she is lead walked due to the light factor, however this will change when we have the lighter nights. She is never left for more than four hours at a time and has the company of my other dog who is a ckc x springer cross. Lunchtimes when I come home for my lunch break from work she has a run outside ( I live in a cul de sac with no through traffic with grassland opposite the house) so we have a play with the ball outside for fifteen minutes before I go back to work. She has loads of toys dotted throughout the house ranging from big chew toys such as the extra large nylabones, to squeaky toys, to the heavy duty twisted rope balls. She has the full run of the house downstairs and I leave both my ckc and GSD pup with a kong with goodies when I go out.

I understand that dogs can get separation anxiety, so I never make a fuss when going out or coming back in just in case. She has plenty to occupy her and the radio is left on when I am out. She has plenty of exercise, so I am at a loss as to why she has started to chew again.

This time around she has chewed the extension cable again. (We put a stop to this as we cut it each time we go out and then re attach it back again) So she cant get to the cable now.
So she started to chew the wall (twice this week)
Yesterday she chewed a hole in the new leather sofa (Only had it several weeks eek!!) It was more of a nibble I think with her front teeth as the area damaged was the size of a fifty pence piece.

I know she is probably due her next season shortly and I am wondering whether this could have anything to do with it. She is not agitated as she doesnt nibble or bite her paws and will relax quite happily on her bed or chair when we are home. She doesnt chew everytime we are out. Some days, not others. I think she knows she has been mischievious as when she has chewed ,and my husband or I come home, she has a bashful look on her face.

I have had a new next door neighbour move in recently and he has two dogs. My two dogs are fabulous with other dogs and I do try to socialise them as much as possible. So when my new neighbour moved in I said it would be a good idea for his dogs to meet mine, so if they hear each other out in the garden there would be no problems with barking at each other etc.  His dogs were fine, the one dog who was a cross collie was a little unsure (as she stiffened a little bit when meeting my GSD pup) But apart from that their meeting each other was fine and when his dogs have been out in the garden the same time as my dogs they havent taken any notice apart from sniffing the fence.

What I have noticed though, is his one dog barks continously when he goes out in the mornings. Also when he lets his dogs out into the garden, again his one dog seems to bark a lot. This morning I was feeding my two in the kitchen when his one dog again started barking in his garden and I noticed my GSD pups hackles go up and she left her food to go into the conservatory to investigate. It seemed to upset her a bit and put her on edge. Something I havent seen before. I let her into the garden to see how she would react and she was fine, she never barked, she sniffed the fence and realised where the bark was coming from and was quite happy to come back in to eat her food and seemed more relaxed.

Do you think the barking from my next door neighbours dogs has anything to do with the chewing. When his dog barks in the house, with the radio on, its not too audible, however when they are in the garden the sound echos into the conservatory and it is quite loud. Or do you think it is separation anxiety or the fact her hormones could be changing as she is close to her season.

Any suggestions would be really appreciated. I dont want to crate her when I am out. I will only use a crate when she has her season as she hasnt yet been spayed and my CKC is entire. I would much prefer to let her have the run of the house but am worried, not so much about the damage she causes (that can be put right ) but if she causes problems to herself. I do ensure that all the plugs are pulled out when I go out so there wouldnt be a problem there, but I worry if she could ingest something she shouldnt with the recent episode of chewing.

Sorry for such a long post, but just wanted to give a full picture. Thank you in advance.

xxx

> I know she is probably due her next season shortly and I am wondering whether this could have anything to do with it.

My girl (18 months) displays some very odd behaviour up to a month before her season starts, mainly escaping but once she is in season she is fine. I've posted on here before about her odd behaviour and it is very unusual (usually odd behaviour, particularly escaping happens during the season) but it does happen so perharps your girl is like mine and goes a bit loopy before her season starts but her odd behaviour is chewing. Are you planning to breed from her? If not I would suggest getting her spayed. My girl is in season at the moment but plan to get her spayed in 3 months time as I can't risk her keep escaping (our garden is dog proofed but she has literally kicked down a fence panel - kung foo style!)

> I have a GSD pup of 11.5 months. She did go through a chewing stage when she was younger and was teething.

My boy is not much younger than this and is chewing at the moment. When I check his teeth they are still a long way from being fully grown. I would think your girl is the same so she may still have the need to chew as her teeth will still be growing even though they will have cut. I posted on here about this recently as the spray to stop chewing did nothing and it was suggested I rub a bit of vicks where I didn't want him to chew - it was an instant success! If you don't want to crate her you could confine her to one area in the house and remove furniture from there, or if like me you are unable to completely remove the furniture try the vicks. I would also suggest if you catch her chewing to tell her 'no' and give her something she is able to chew, but if shes anything like mine they she will only chew when you are out.

I don't think it would be separation anxiety if shes always been left - particularly as she has the company of another dog and is in a regular routine.

Thank you Pink Brady.

I am not planning to breed from her. She has a heart arrythmia which is controlled by sotalol (beta blockers). I dont really want to spay her at the moment due to this. I have talked at great length with my vet  who agrees that the risks of surgery do outweigh the risks associated with a female who hasnt been spayed and he would be reluctant to undertake surgery at this time. She has seen a Cardiologist specialist and has had the full blood tests etc to check her heart muscle and to check the causes of the arrythmia. She has also had scans on her heart and wore a 24 hr ecg. Outwardly she is a lively bouncy dog who looks the picture of health. Apparently the heart arrythmia is congenital and that some dogs do grow out of it by 18 months. On the negative side, he said some dogs dont live to 18 months however if they do the prognosis is that they will lead a normal life. I do wrap her in cotton wool somewhat. She is so adorable and such a sweetie and shows no signs of the arrythmia she has.

I tend to worry about her moreso as I lost a pup just before I bought her. The pup was twelve weeks old and his kidneys and heart had not developed properly. His breeders also lost the other pups they had bred too. The problem affected the whole litter. It was a devastating time as you can imagine. So I do worry about my girlie with her arrythmia (I dont have much luck do I?!!)

I shall have to try the vicks suggestion. I am a bit of a worry wort. Is there anything in there that could make her ill if she decided she liked the taste and licked it?

So sorry to hear about the heart problems with your girl and the loss of your other pup :(. I'm not surprised you don't want to spay her if it could cause further risk. Fingers crossed she grows out of it! See if the chewing stops though during/after her season then you will know if that is the cause of her chewing.
In terms of the vicks being harmful my boy is not particularly blessed in the brains department and did lick it - even tried to lick it straight out the tub but soon stopped once the taste hit him and he had no ill side effects. It would probably make them sick if they had too much but I don't think they could stand the taste long enough for it to do them any harm. Hopefully your girl is like mine and will completely avoid it - I think the smell alone is enough to put most dogs off and its so strong you only need a tiny bit!
Hope this solves the problem, let me know :)

Thanks Pink Brady you are a star. I shall have to buy some. You make me laugh. I love your wit. You have had me in stitches at your girl Kung Fooing the fence and you saying that your boy isnt blessed in the brains department bless him. I have always had male GSDs up until now but I have found my girlie to be more intelligent than my males too. She is a real watcher and she studies everything. I cant get over how in tune she is with time too. My husband is normally up by six in the morning and by half six he is taking her for her walk. She normally wakes us up just prior to the alarm clock going off. Only problem is she does it on the weekends too, so we never get to have a lie in the little minx. Also she has her tablet the same time each morning and night and will come and tell me when its time by gently leading me by the hand with her mouth. She will even open her mouth for me to put the tablet at the back of her throat as she knows she gets a treat after her tablet so doesnt mind taking them.
Are both your dogs Huskies?Huskies are beautiful dogs.  They are stunning to look at and have such amazing eyes.

> she has her tablet the same time each morning and night and will come and tell me when its time by gently leading me by the hand with her mouth.

That is so sweet! I wish it was so easy with my two. Yes they are both huskys and they do both have blue eyes. The one on my pic is my boy Zak. I would definately agree that females are more intelligent - Missy is incredibly clever but manipulative with it. Zaks a big dope but a lot more lovable.

My mum and dad used to have a GSD and a couple of my friends have them - they really are lovely dogs, too many of them end up in rescue :( I've seen a lot of GSD x Huskys actually and a lot of people think Missy has GSD in her as shes not the typical grey/white or black/white husky colours.

Have you had chance to try the Vicks yet?